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We believe that everyone, no matter their social standing, deserves a well-appointed, comfortable abode.

Whether young or old, urban or suburban, affluent or with average means, we encourage all our subjects to derive the best from their homes.

Our minds, after all, are clearer when space is carefully decorated and lovingly arranged. Feng Shui? Rocket science? Either way, it makes a whole load of sense.

During two decades of championing affordable design, we’ve focused, for the most part, on moms, pops and young urban professionals. Which means we have played out of the student arena. But all that is set to change.

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Having recently completed two focus groups to discern our demographic skew, we uncovered an audience share which has grown significantly in the last 12 months. Precisely why this market sector has spiked is a mystery, but we’re nonetheless delighted to welcome an eager new teenage and student audience.

Awakened to this expanded market, we’ll compose rooms for our younger fan base on Cityline, and juggle projects to appeal specifically to a back-to-school and teen audience.

And now seems like the perfect time to unveil our retro bedding collection which you’ll find across Canada in stores such as HomeSense, Marshalls and Winners. Hey, the time travelling treasure hunt starts here.

So why retro? Well, in a nutshell, today’s younger contingent seems preoccupied by that which has passed through the ether. Music of the ’80s, for example, is suddenly de rigueur.

Hey, the allure of the past has even crept into the motoring sector — the Fiat 500 (a retooling of the ancient 500 Topolino) and the Mini are must-have wheels for hipsters with an appetite for the halcyon days of bubble car and vehicular miniaturization.

Things of an epicurean nature are also jumping on the bandwagon. Just last week in a Muskoka restaurant, we scanned a menu starring the kitsch 1930’s ice-cream dessert, Knickerbocker Glory.

And don’t even mention Brit fave “prawn cocktail.” Hauled up from the 1970s, the Marie Rose-and-shellfish composition is once again a chi-chi entrée of choice at candlelit suppers the world over.

But anyway, let’s get back “home.” And let’s go to bed.

Glance, if you will, at our whimsical linens. Cute, huh?

But from where, precisely, did we draw inspiration to sketch our nocturnal motifs? Well, shocking as it is, both of us are over 40. Yes, we know, we know — it’s staggering. You thought we were late 20’s, right? More like, ahem, late 1920’s . . .

One particular benefit of our protracted terra firma tenure is an ability to plunder the past, first-hand. Blimey, we clearly remember C30, C60 and C90 cassettes.

Oh yes, and vinyl — the 7-inch single and the 12-inch album. Bliss! We’re reminded of yesteryear and the olfactory delight as we pulled glossy black discs from immaculate paper sleeves. Jeez, those were the days.

And d’you know what? Those are the days again. Yup, all of a sudden it’s, like, Duran Duran, Blondie and The Police never went away.

Past tense aside, an important aspect of patterned bedding is its ability to make a big statement in an otherwise plainly attired room. It was this logic that crept to the forefront of our thinking as we conspired our new collection.

Oftentimes, particularly in students halls of residence — or rental apartments — bylaws deny the opportunity to decorate or change wall colour. But all is not lost: linens and upholstery are the perfect solution. Affordable and portable (whip ’em off when you move) they’re a simple way to bring your project alive.

If your kid’s hallmaster or landlord does permit modest decorative tweaks, try pulling an accent tone from, say, our “Cassettes” bedding design and lavish one wall with ruby red latex for an instant fix. Sling a complementary shag rug on the floor (to add a tactile layer), dress a bookshelf with a Bakelite telephone or arrange ’60s ceramics in a quaint allusion to days gone by. And presto! A whisper of the past is brought bang up to date.

As much as our retro collection was designed for students and first-time homemakers, it’ll also serve as a useful proposition for empty nesters faced with restyling their kids’ space after their scholastic departure. Add a spot of Colin and Justin Home “Union Jack” style or a twist of “Retro Radio” chic, and that newly vacant bedroom will become the perfect hang out.

Who do you love? Your kids, of course — and us, for our designs that tempt them back home between terms.

The interior design world, it’s fair to report, is just like the catwalk: a place where style is cyclical and old alluringly new again at the flick of a designer’s pencil.

This observed, let’s just hope no one offers a platform, second-time around, to faux timber paneling, avocado bathrooms, or Bay City Rollers’ plaid pants.

Yup, some things, simply, should be left in the past. And today’s student populous, thankfully, is discerning enough to comply.

Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan are the hosts of HGTV’s Colin & Justin’s Home Heist and the authors of Colin & Justin’s Home Heist Style Guide, published by Penguin Group (Canada). Catch them every Monday on Cityline (9 a.m. on City). Follow them on Twitter @colinjustin or on Facebook (ColinandJustin). Check out their new product ranges at candjhome.co.uk. Contact them through their website colinandjustin.tv.

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